International Environment House, Chemin de Balexert 7, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland +41 (0)22 797 26 23 – [email protected] – www.ielrc.org Ensuring Drinking Water Security in Rural India - Strategic Plan 2011-2022 This document is available at ielrc.org/content/e1104.pdf For further information, visit www.ielrc.org Note: This document is put online by the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) for information purposes. This document is not an official version of the text and as such is only provided as a source of information for interested readers. IELRC makes no claim as to the accuracy of the text reproduced which should under no circumstances be deemed to constitute the official version of the document.
Transcript
International Environment House, Chemin de Balexert 7, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland +41 (0)22 797 26 23 – [email protected] – www.ielrc.org
Ensuring Drinking Water Security in Rural
India - Strategic Plan 2011-2022
This document is available at ielrc.org/content/e1104.pdf
For further information, visit www.ielrc.org
Note: This document is put online by the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) for information purposes. This document is not an official version of the text and as such is only provided as a source of information for interested readers. IELRC makes no claim as to the accuracy of the text reproduced which should under no circumstances be deemed to constitute the official version of the document.
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Strategic Plan – 2011- 2022
Department of Drinking Water and
Sanitation – Rural Drinking Water
“Ensuring Drinking Water Security
In Rural India”
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation
Ministry of Rural Development
Government of India
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1- Introduction
Chapter 2 : Aspirations and Goals
2.1 Aspirations 3
2.2 Goals 3
2.3 Timelines 3-4
Chapter 3 : The current situation, and challenges facing the sector
3.1 Background 5
3.2 Government initiatives in Rural Drinking Water 5
3.3 The current situation 6
3.4 The Challenges 7
3.5 Source sustainability 7
3.6 Water Resource regulation 8
3.7 Water Quality 8
3.8 Operation and Maintenance 8
3.9 Inter-sector coordination 9
3.10 Continuous Professional Support 9
3.11 Climate change – identifying key risk areas 10
and potential opportunities
Chapter 4 – Strategy
4.1 Enable Participatory Planning and Implementation 11
of Schemes and Source Sustainability
4.2 Water quality Management 11
4.3 Sustainable Service Delivery (Operation and
maintenance) 11
4.4 Strengthen Decentralised Governance 11
4.5 Build Professional Capacity 12
4.6 Implementation Plan 12
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Chapter 5 - Enable Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Schemes
5.1 Primacy for Drinking Water in Water
Resource Allocation 13
5.2 Protection of Water sources 13
5.3 Participatory Integrated water resource
Management 13
5.4 Integrated Water Resources Management 14
5.4.1 National level 14-15
5.4.2 State level 15
5.4.3 District level 16
5.4.4 Village level 16
5.5 Water security planning and implementation
at village, District and State levels 17
5.6 Universal access and participation 17-19
Chapter 6 – Sustainability of Sources and conjunctive use of water
12.6 Outsourcing and Public Private Partnerships 47
Chapter 13 : Learning Agenda, Resources Required and Key
Performance Indicators
13.1 Learning agenda for the Department of
Drinking Water and Sanitation 49
13.2 Resources required by DDWS 49
Chapter 14 – Financing
14.1 Need for clear financing policy 54
14.2 Sources of funds 54
14.3 Renovation and Modernization 55
14.4 Financial resources requirement 56
14.4.1 Assumptions for financial estimates
14.4.2 Financial resources requirement
14.4.3 State-wise requirement of funds
14.5 Separate Piped Water Supply programme
for lagging States 58
Chapter 15. - Key Performance Indicators 59-60
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A Strategic Plan for Rural Drinking Water in India
Chapter 1- Introduction
This document sets out a strategic plan for the Department of Drinking Water and
Sanitation in the rural drinking water sector for the period 2011 to 2022. The Plan is broadly
set out in the following parts
• Aspirations and Goals for the Strategic Plan of the Department of Drinking Water
and Sanitation and the rural drinking water sector as a whole.
• The current situation, and challenges concerning the rural drinking water sector.
• The Strategy and Implementation Plans for different objectives: The Department of
Drinking Water and Sanitation has identified five Strategic Objectives (Source
Sustainability; Water Quality Management; Sustainable Service Delivery (O&M),
Strengthen Decentralised Governance, and Build Professional Capacity) to achieve its
overall objective of providing improved, sustainable drinking water services in rural
communities.
• The Implementation Plan under each Strategy provides options from which each
State can formulate its own Implementation Plan depending on its needs, capacity
and resources, and establish a timeframe for achieving transformation.
• The Learning Agenda, Resources Required and Key Performance Indicators to
monitor progress against the Strategy and Implementation Plans.
The Government of India, through the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has
already taken significant steps to meet this challenge through the National Rural Drinking
Water Programme (NRDWP).
This document has been prepared to help operationalise the NRDWP by setting out a
Strategic Plan in terms of aspirations, goals, objectives and strategic initiatives for the sector
for the period 2011-2022.
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Chapter 2 : Aspirations and Goals
2.1 Aspirations
All rural households have access to piped water supply in adequate quantity with a metered
tap connection providing safe drinking water, throughout the year, that meets prevalent
national drinking water standards, leading to healthy and well nourished children and adults
and improved livelihoods and education. Continuous uninterrupted water supply is an
aspiration and efforts should be made to cover increasing numbers of habitations with 24x7
water supply.
2.2 Goals
To ensure that every rural person has enough safe water for drinking, cooking and other
domestic needs as well as livestock throughout the year including during natural disasters.
By 2022, every rural person in the country will have access to 70 lpcd within their household
premises or at a horizontal or vertical distance of not more than 50 meters from their
household without barriers of social or financial discrimination. Individual States can adopt
higher quantity norms, such as 100 lpcd.
It is recognized that States will adopt their own strategies and phased timeframes to achieve
this goal. Three standards of service can be identified depending on what communities
want:
• Basic piped water supply with a mix of household connections, public taps and
handpumps (designed for 55 lpcd) -with appropriate costing as decided by States
taking affordability and social equity into consideration
• Piped water supply with all metered, household connections (designed for 70 lpcd or
more) - with appropriate cost ceilings as decided by States taking affordability and
social equity into consideration.
• In extreme cases, handpumps (designed for 40 lpcd), protected open wells,
protected ponds, etc., supplemented by other local sources – preferably free of cost.
Optimum use of rainwater should be an integrated element in all the three cases.
2.3 Timelines
By 2017,
• Ensure that at least 55% of rural households are provided with piped water supply;
at least 35% of rural households have piped water supply with a household
connection; less than 20% use public taps and less than 45% use handpumps or
other safe and adequate private water sources. All services meet set standards in
terms of quality and number of hours of supply every day.
• Ensure that all households, schools and anganwadis in rural India have access to and
use adequate quantity of safe drinking water.
• Provide enabling support and environment for Panchayat Raj Institutions and local
communities to manage at least 60% of rural drinking water sources and systems.
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By 2022,
• Ensure that at least 90% of rural households are provided with piped water supply;
at least 80% of rural households have piped water supply with a household
connection; less than 10% use public taps and less than 10% use handpumps or
other safe and adequate private water sources.
• Provide enabling support and environment for all Panchayat Raj Institutions and
local communities to manage 100% of rural drinking water sources and systems.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Percentage
2010 2017 2022 Year
Handpumps
Community standposts
Household connections
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Chapter 3 : The current situation, and challenges facing the sector
3.1 Background
By 2022, India may have moved to upper-middle income country status with the third
largest economy in the world behind only the USA and China. Though economic growth is
expanding access to resources and opportunities for increasing numbers of educated people
coming from rural, small town and urban backgrounds it is evident that many areas of the
country and many sections of the population are unable to access the opportunities
available. The challenge is to sustain and broaden the scope of the growth process, to
overcome the many inequalities that exist in urban slums and lagging rural areas, for SC/ST,
poor and marginalized households and habitations, and to ensure that more people have
better jobs, and better access to basic infrastructure and improved public services, like
health, education, water supply and sanitation.
3.2 Government initiatives in Rural Drinking Water
Since the First Five Year Plan (1951-1956), Government of India (GoI) and State
governments have spent about Rs. 1,10,000 crore on rural drinking water. Under the
current Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the total expenditure is likely to exceed Rs.
1,00,000 crore, and it is certain that investment in rural water supply will increase even
more. Yet despite these huge investments, the sector is beset with problems. Ground
water sources are deteriorating, many areas are classified as water quality affected, and
poor operation and maintenance has resulted in dilapidated facilities. The causes behind
this situation are to do with competing demands on scarce water resources, weak
institutional governance, insufficient support structures and professional capacity at all
levels. These need urgent attention. Looking to the future, there will be rising demand for
higher quality of services to match those found in urban centres, intense competition for
water from agriculture and industry, and increasing scarcity and variability of water
resources due to population growth and climate change. Above all, Indian citizens, across a
broad base of economic and social circumstances, are demanding transparency in “how
decisions are made, how money is spent and to what end, and who the beneficiaries are”1.
The Government of India, through the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation,
has already taken significant steps to meet this challenge through the National Rural
Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) launched in April 2009. NRDWP provides grants for
construction of rural water supply schemes with special focus on water-stressed and water
quality affected areas, rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge measures, and for
operation and maintenance including minor repairs. It promotes conjunctive use of surface,
groundwater and roof water rainwater harvesting and actively supports convergence with
other development programmes such as the MNREGS and Watershed Development
Programmes. Support activities include setting up of State Water and Sanitation Missions
and Water and Sanitation Support Organisations at State level, District Water and Sanitation
Missions, Block Resource Centres and Village Water and Sanitation Committees, provision of
District and Sub-divisional water quality testing laboratories, on-line MIS, and community
involvement in water quality monitoring.
1 Nandan Nilekani, writing on the advantages of information and communications technology in Imagining
India, Ideas for the New Century, 2008
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3.3 The current situation :
The current situation: There is no question that India has been successful in providing access
to basic water supply facilities for nearly everyone; the challenge now is how to provide
higher levels of service with sustainable sources and systems that provide good quality water
to a growing population. Under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP)
India made good progress in terms of coverage. The Uncovered habitations as of 1st
April,
2005, were 55,067 (4,588 Not Covered, and 50,479 Partially Covered)2 the balance as of 1
st
April, 2010 was only 376 uncovered habitations. However, out of the total number of
16,61,058 habitations in India, the States reported that 4,94,610 habitations (30%) had
slipped back to partial coverage and 1,44,064 (9%) habitations were water quality affected
as on 1st
April, 2010 . The reasons for this include:
a) In line with NRDWP guidelines as of 1st
April, 2009, the inclusion of newly formed peri-
urban habitations and new habitations even those with less than 100 persons.3
b) Slippage of covered habitations due to poor O&M and drying up of sources.
c) Increase in population and growth of settlements.
d) Increased testing of sources and improved knowledge of quality affected areas.
e) Increasing contamination of sources due to deeper drilling of borewells into quality
affected aquifers, contamination with untreated sewage, industrial effluent, and agricultural
fertilizers and pesticides.
The number of piped water supplies in rural areas is rapidly increasing, driven in part by
water resource constraints, but increasingly because people want a higher level of service.
In 2010, about one third of rural households already use piped water, and about one third
of those have a house connection. The achievements of the last two decades in the RWS
sector in India are shown in the figure below from the JMP Report 2008. However it should
be noted that there are significant inequalities between the rich and the poor and this needs
to be addressed in moving forwards. For example, while about 32% of the rich people have
piped connections on their premises, only about 1% of the poorest have this facility.4 This
corroborates well with some field surveys which indicate that expenditure on the SC/ST
population is proportionately less than on the rural population as a whole.5
2 ‘Covered’ means that at least one public investment has been made to create drinking water sources and / or
systems. In addition, under ARWSP, Government of India norms were ‘fully covered’ meaning 40 liters per
capita per day (lpcd), ‘partially covered’ meaning more than 10 lpcd but less than 40 lpcd, and ‘not covered’
meaning less than 10 lpcd. In addition, a potable water source should be within 1600m in the plains and 100
meters elevation in hilly areas of any household. This is the basis on which slippage was identified. 3 This replaces the previous definition of coverage which was based on 40 lpcd, with a safe source for all
permanently settled populations of 20 households or 100 persons. 4 Analyzed by UNICEF in 2010 based on data from National Family Welfare and Health Surveys in 1993, 1999
and 2006. 5 All India Impact Assessment Study of ARWSP during 2004-2007.
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3.4 The Challenges:
The Eleventh Plan document identifies the key issues facing the sector. The main ones are
deteriorating source sustainability resulting from over-extraction of groundwater in large
part due to irrigation demand for agriculture, water quality problems including arsenic and
fluoride contamination and bacteriological contamination due to lack of sanitation which
kills hundreds of children every day from diarrhea, and poor operation and maintenance
including neglect of replacement and expansion resulting in rapid deterioration in the
quality of water services. The other major challenges are related to inter-sector
coordination, continuous professional support to GPs/ communities and emerging climate
change challenge.
3.5 Source sustainability:
One of the most critical challenges that face rural villages is to secure an adequate source of
water in terms of quantity and quality. Since 1947, with increasing growth of the population
the per capita water availability has fallen from over 5,000 m3/year to about 1,700 m3/year.
This is due to massive over-exploitation of groundwater mostly to meet irrigation demand
and increasing scarcity in drinking water during summer months. The status of groundwater
development is more than 100% in the States of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
More than 15% of the total blocks in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana,
Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are over-exploited or critical in terms of
ground water development. Due to deeper drilling of aquifers, drinking water sources are
increasingly becoming contaminated with natural contaminants like fluoride, arsenic and
salinity.
8 11
58
73
34
16
0
20
40
60
80
100
Co
vera
ge
(per
cen
tag
e)
Rural drinking water trends
Unimproved sources Other improved sources Piped onto premises
1990 (census data) 2008 (NHFW survey)
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3.6 Water Resource regulation
In terms of water resources regulation, critical issues facing the sector concern inter-sectoral
distribution, bulk water tariffs and water resource management. In particular, ensuring that
drinking water receives priority especially during scarcity and drought is a challenge because
irrigation demand dominates water demand. The current distribution of water resources in
the country is about 86% percent for agriculture, 6 percent for industries and 8 percent for
domestic uses. With increasing industrialization the share of industry is set to rise. The
comparable share of industry in rich industrialized countries is more than 50%. The share of
domestic water use will also rise with increasing urbanization and demands of rural
households for urban levels of amenities and services. There is lack of a holistic approach to
water resources management with communities taking the lead in preparing their own
water balance to ensure that they manage their available surface water, groundwater and
rainwater resources and competing demands for drinking water, irrigation and industry.
The Planning Commission in its Mid-Term Appraisal of the 11th
Plan progress and the 13th
Finance Commission Report recommend establishment of independent water resources
regulatory bodies at state level. The 13th
Finance Commission has earmarked a conditional
grant of Rs. 5,000 Crores for this purpose.
3.7 Water Quality:
As indicated earlier, as of 1/4/2010 about 9% of habitations remain that face water quality
issues due to chemical contamination. Out of the 1,44,064 remaining quality-affected
habitations, arsenic contamination is reported in 6,548 habitations of 8 States, fluoride
contamination in 26,131habitations of 19 States, salinity, both in inland and coastal areas, in
28,398 habitations of 15 States, iron contamination in 79,955 habitations of 21 States and
nitrate contamination is reported in 3,032habitations of 12 States. These contaminations
are either natural or associated with over-exploitation of groundwater.
Many more sources report bacteriological contamination, especially during rainy season due
to poor sanitation, poor O&M and hygiene leading to water borne diseases impacting on
maternal and child morbidity and mortality.
The main issues in dealing with water quality are related to: weak legislation and
enforcement of water quality standards and testing protocols, exploitation of sources
contaminated due to deteriorating groundwater levels, poor Operation & Maintenance,
weak provider accountability with respect to quality of water provided and lack of
awareness amongst rural citizens about the importance of safe water and poor
environmental and domestic hygiene.
3.8 Operation and Maintenance:
Another major challenge is to move from a project mode which focuses on creating
infrastructure, to a programme mode which focuses on providing, improving and sustaining
high standards of drinking water supply services. Decentralization puts planning,
implementation, operation and maintenance in the hands of beneficiaries. This creates
ownership and commitment to action. It has been the goal of successive rural water reform
programmes in India since 1999. The Sector Reform Programme (1999-2002) and
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Swajaldhara (2002-2008) have promoted a bottom up, “demand responsive” community
based approach that has now been mainstreamed in the National Rural Drinking Water
Programme (2009).
The PHEDs have been concerned with physical progress and financial disbursement, not
longer term sustainability. There has been poor interaction with communities to involve
them in planning, implementation and managing their own schemes. As a result, the
dominant approach to service delivery has remained supply driven and characterized by
large investments in schemes and works, followed by deterioration of the infrastructure and
long periods with low levels of service while communities wait for the government to rebuild
the schemes.
Challenge of
O&M
Service Level (access, quantity, quality, reliability…)
1 2 3 4 5 Years
Rs.
No O&M, renewal,
replacement
Rs.
x… requires ongoing
planning & investment
Service Level (access, quantity, quality, reliability… )
1 2 3 4 5 Years
Ongoing O&M, renewal,
replacement
Rs
Institutional roles and responsibilities
It is clear that local governments and communities cannot succeed on their own. They
need to be given clear-cut roles and responsibilities. These include Panchayat Raj
institutions, line departments, training institutions, and the local private sector and NGOs.
Before the NRDWP Support fund was created there was no provision for regular funding of
Support activities under the main programme. It is now possible to take up capacity building
programmes on redefining roles and responsibilities using these funds.
3.9 Inter-sector coordination:
Government of India has established many flagship development programmes to improve
rural health and livelihoods and provide sustainable infrastructure. These include MNREGS,
Watershed Development Programmes, BRGF, NRHM, ICDS, TSC, SSA and NRLM. However,
there are multiple institutions involved, varying ‘rules of the game’ and replication of
projects which overwhelm village communities. There is an urgent need for convergence
towards common objectives.
3.10 Continuous Professional Support:
The rural water sector has suffered so far from a lack of continuous institutionalized support
and a programme for strengthening professional capacity. By focusing on a project mode of
delivery, capacity building in rural water has been directed at infrastructure planning and
implementation. State governments have generally adopted a top down approach to
identify ‘shelves’ of schemes and works for financing, based loosely on priorities for
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uncovered habitations and quality affected areas. But while many GPs and VWSCs have had
facilities handed over to them, they have mostly lacked the financial and technical skills to
independently manage and operate their new sources and systems. In addition, they have
lacked the knowledge and experience to contract these skills. More recently, progress is
being made through the establishment of Water and Sanitation Support Organisations,
District Water and Sanitation Missions and Block Resource Centres.
Perhaps the most important lesson over the past twenty years of rural water supply is that
local government and communities should not be abandoned once project infrastructure
has been built. They need continuous support including training, technical support, access
to professional services and financing to supplement their own resources.
3.11 Climate change – identifying key risk areas and potential opportunities.
The 2009 Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen, and the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) Report (2007), has confirmed the consensus amongst scientists and policy
makers that human-induced global climate change is now occurring. The Copenhagen
meeting also confirmed the need for action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. India
has recently signed the Copenhagen accord, agreeing to work with other nations to address
the issues and threats posed by climate change. The major threats from climate change are
rising temperatures, increased droughts, increased flooding, long-term wastage of the
region’s snow and ice stores, saline intrusion from rising sea levels, and a more variable
monsoon with unpredictable intermittent breaks in the monsoon.
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Chapter 4 - Strategy
Based on the above analysis and extensive national consultations6, the Department of
Drinking Water and Sanitation has identified five Strategic Objectives to address the
challenges in the sector and achieve its goals, namely:
4.1 Enable Participatory Planning and Implementation of Schemes and Source
Sustainability
a. Participatory Integrated Water Resource Management at village, district and
State levels including Conjunctive Use of rainwater, groundwater and surface
water and provision of Bulk Water Supply as needed
b. Water security planning and implementation by ensuring cost-effective,
optimal scheme design to reduce O&M requirements
c. Water Source Sustainability measures including Sustainability Plans
implemented at block, watershed and village level including Water
Harvesting and Groundwater Recharge measures
4.2 Water quality Management
a. Source Protection with Water Safety Plan implemented at village level to
prevent contamination before it happens
b. Monitoring, Surveillance and Testing through Water Quality Testing including
field test kits and district and sub-divisional water quality testing laboratories
c. Treatment of water from contaminated sources with cost-effective,
appropriate technologies, safe distribution and household hygiene
d. Legal, Institutional and Regulatory measures to make water quality standards
mandatory and enforceable in a phased manner
4.3 Sustainable Service Delivery (Operation and maintenance)
a. Operation and Maintenance measures implemented at village level to ensure
skills and finance for operation and maintenance, replacement, expansion
and modernisation.
b. Incentivise States to take measures for decentralising functions, funds,
functionaries using a Management Devolution Index
c. Focus on metering, bulk and individual, to reduce Unaccounted for Water
d. Service agreements for handpump mechanics and piped water supply
operators
4.4 Strengthen Decentralised Governance
a. Institutional Roles and Responsibilities to support water security planning
and implementation (source sustainability, water quality and O&M)
6 The DDWS organized four rounds of Regional Consultation Workshops at Chandigarh (18
th June 2010),
Guwahati (on 18th
August 2010)Bangalore (9th
July 2010), Gandhinagar (on 26th
August, 2010) and a National
Consultative Workshop in New Delhi (14th
Jan 2011) to discuss the challenges and way forward with various
sector experts from government, NGOs, academics and media.
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b. Convergence of different development programmes
c. Results Based Financing of drinking water security plans
d. Oversight and Regulation including value for money and monitoring of
progress and performance
4.5 Build Professional Capacity
a. Training to capacitate new roles and responsibilities
b. Technical support
c. Outsourcing including handpump mechanics and piped water supply
operators
4.6 Implementation Plan
The Strategic Objectives can be achieved through an appropriate mix of implementation
initiatives. Most of these are set out in the National Rural Drinking Water Programme
guidelines (DDWS, 2010) and other publications of the DDWS. Other key options are set out
below, as identified in regional and national consultation workshops held with all States,
inputs from water community groups and other stakeholders. Each State can formulate its
own Implementation Plan depending on its needs, capacity and resources, and establish a
timeframe for achieving the Strategic Objectives. Part Five provides some Key
Performance Indicators which can be used to monitor progress.
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Chapter 5 - Enable Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Schemes
5.1 Primacy for Drinking Water in Water Resource Allocation
As per the provisions of the National Water Policy, drinking water has the first priority in
allocation, of all available water. However, it is often seen that in surface water harvesting
or water impounding projects, requirements of drinking water are not given appropriate
priority. States should review existing water resource allocations for irrigation, drinking
water etc. in cases of new demands for improved or augmented drinking water supply in
rural and urban areas. Water policy should also provide for review and reallocation of
water resources among competing user groups giving primacy to drinking water supply.
5.2 Protection of Water sources
Moving it to a higher level of sanctity of sources, rather than mere protection should be a guiding
principle both to keep the sources sustainable in quantity as well as save the water from being
contaminated beyond usability. This would involve participatory integrated water resource
management, conjunctive use of water and source sustainability measures. It may also involve
suitable legislative or regulatory measures including defining water source protection zones or water
sanctuaries.
5.3 Participatory Integrated water resource management.
A Holistic approach with active community and PRI participation in villages at a watershed
or aquifer or a hydrological unit level , especially in areas facing water stressin the whole or
part of the yearshould be followed to ensure drinking water supply as in the Andhra Pradesh
Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems project. This should take into account availability of
water through groundwater, surface water, rainwater and seawater (where applicable)
sources; allocation of water to irrigation, and for domestic purposes; and reuse and
recycling of wastewater. Strategies should include a water budget with community
monitoring of water tables to balance demand (especially irrigation and industrial demand)
with available water as well as local measures for rainwater harvesting and groundwater
recharge. States may also consider giving GPs more power over local water sources, so that
agricultural and industrial use could be regulated so as not to jeopardize domestic water
requirement. Waste water should be managed to prevent contamination and for reuse and
recycling.
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Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS) project's key premise
is behavioral change leading to voluntary self regulation. In seven drought prone districts of
Andhra Pradesh, thousands of farmers residing in 638 habitations have voluntarily taken a
number of steps to reduce groundwater pumping, for tiding over the problem of
groundwater depletion. The main intervention of the project is the capacity building of the
farmers in the catchment Hydrological Units (HUs) on water budgeting and collective
decision making.
The project introduced two key measurement devices. The first is the rainwater gauge to
measure the rainfall in their areas. The second is the long rope scale to measure the depth
of groundwater in observation wells. The farmers groups were trained to collect and use
data from these two sources to calculate the potential ground water availability in each
season. This knowledge has empowered the farmers to collectively make their own
decisions on water entitlements, crop water budget (CWB), changing crops to suit the water
availability and planning recharge measures to enhance groundwater recharge potential.
The efforts have led to significant changes in the overall situation in a short 3 year period
from 2005 to 2008. Out of 53 Hydrological Units (HUs) the groundwater balance has
increased in 57% HUs, remained constant in 34% HUs and decreased only in 9% HUs.
Similarly out of 58HUs the groundwater pumping has reduced in 55% HUs, remained
constant in 31% HUs and increased only in 14% HUs. About 4800 farmers in the 638
habitations have voluntarily adopted water saving methods in one form or the other
without losing the incomes from agriculture. This project demonstrates the power of
building capacity of local organizations to collect real time data, process it and make local
decisions and regulate water use.
Implementation Plan
These implementation measures encompassing Integrated Water Resource Management
are set out below:
5.4 Integrated Water Resources Management
5.4.1 National level:
1. The DDWS, through the National Water Mission and the National Drinking Water and
Sanitation Council,would prepare a convergent approach with the Ministries of Water
Resources, Agriculture, Environment and Forests, Power, Industry and others. The
Central Ground Water Authority will be requested to regulate drilling of non-drinking
water supply wells in over-exploited blocks. The Water Quality Assessment Authority,
Central Pollution Control Board and the National River Conservation Directorate will be
requested to identify and take steps for suitable prevention and regulation of pollution
of drinking water sources.
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2. Regulation of Groundwater Development
85% of the supply of drinking water is based on ground water sources. Availability of
drinking water during lean periods becomes a major issue. One of the major causes
is that groundwater is over-extracted for industry and agriculture leading to
depletion of drinking water sources. Farmers literally engage in a race to the bottom
in drilling deeper and deeper borewells and falling into debt traps. Public need
should triumph over private interest. For this regulation of ground and surface water
extraction is necessary. It should also be effectively implemented. The Department
would work with the Ministry of Water Resources on suitably incentivising States
for enacting a comprehensive Ground and Surface Water Development legislation
and its effective enforcement especially in over exploited blocks.
3. Need to notify all Over- Exploited Blocks
The Central Ground Water Authority would be requested to take the
initiative to notify all over exploited Blocks, so as to regulate ground water
abstraction in such blocks, other than for public water supply. The overuse of
ground water resources is critically affecting the availability of drinking water in such
blocks. Even in those blocks which have been declared as over-exploited blocks, the
regulation of ground water exploitation requires tremendous improvement. The
District officers need to be pro-active in this and action should be initiated to
establish farmer managed Ground Water associations in these block compulsorily.
4. Upscaling of Farmer managed Ground and Surface water resources model
However, legislation alone is not sufficient. There is need to create awareness about
the finite nature of ground and surface water resources. As has been shown in the
Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Ground Water Systems programme if farmers are
given the necessary awareness and skills to measure and monitor their water
resources, community monitoring and self-regulation of water resources, both
ground and surface water, becomes a reality. This is needed to ensure sustainability
of drinking water supply. This has to be done by investing in awareness generation
and capacity building of the Panchayats and communities. The lessons of the
APFMGS should be upscaled in all over-exploited through the schemes of Ministry
of Water Resources and Ministry of Agriculture.
5. Promotion of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in water stressed areas
Programmes for promotion of micro-irrigation by the Ministry of Agriculture and by
State Departments may not have sufficient funds to saturate all eligible land holdings
in all blocks in the country. It may therefore be considered for targeting these
programmes on water stressed States, districts and blocks based on groundwater
development in those areas. For instance they could be targeted at the 839 over-
exploited, 226 critical and 550 semi-critical blocks in the country.
5.4.2 State level:
The SWSM with the Irrigation, Agriculture, Environment and Forests, Power, Industry
and Aquaculture Departments, would promote a common State Water Policy
addressing the availability of overall water resources and water requirements of
irrigation, rural and urban drinking water, and industry. In this context, the steps to
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be taken to meet the needs of domestic water, as the priority, would be agreed by
the different sectors. This would include monitoring of ground water levels and
rainfall at sub-block levels, monitoring and regulating over-abstraction of ground
water in over-exploited blocks, water efficient agricultural practices, recycling and
reuse of wastewater, water treatment by industry, and environmental water
protection from industrial effluents, fertilizers, pesticides and untreated sewage.
Stress will be laid on the roles of Irrigation and Agriculture Departments in increasing
efficiency of water use in agriculture.
5.4.3 District level:
The DWSM would prepare a District Water Vision based on the availability of overall
water resources and water requirements for irrigation, rural and urban drinking
water, and industry. It should systematise the monitoring and recording of
groundwater levels and rainfall at sub-block or GP level. Based on this plan it should
take steps in coordination with Agriculture and Irrigation Departments for
diversification of cropping patterns, appropriate sowing calendars to reduce
abstraction of groundwater, improve water-use efficiency in irrigation, ensure
reduction, reuse and recycling of water by industry, environmental protection of
drinking water sources, ensure open-defecation free villages, and cost-effective
management of solid and liquid wastes. It should draw up plans for water harvesting
and groundwater recharge structures to benefit drinking water sources on a
watershed basis using Ground Water Prospects maps, GIS and Watershed
Development Department technical inputs. These would be done on a priority basis
for over-exploited, critical and semi-critical blocks. The works planned on this basis
would be taken up under MNREGS, NRDWP (Sustainability) and IWMP.
5.4.4 Village level:
At the village level water security planning should start with knowledge of water
resources management in the village, aquifer or watershed. A water budgeting
exercise should consist of understanding water resources available, and methods of
increasing the utilisation of available water resources, water requirements of
different sectors like drinking water, livestock, agriculture, industry and commerce.
Monitoring of ground water levels and rainfall with rain gauges will lead to
knowledge of availability of water resources. Understanding of water conservation
and recharge should lead to planning of water harvesting and groundwater recharge
structures which maximise recharge and minimise evaporation losses. Demand
management of water by the irrigation sector would focus on use of less water
intensive crops, efficient irrigation methods like drip and sprinkler, reuse and
recycling of water, and regulation of groundwater over-abstraction. The water
budgeting exercise should culminate in arriving at a shared Village Water Vision on
managing this resource and equitable allocation for landless villagers and land
holding agriculturists while protecting the domestic requirements. This collective
approach requires considerable work with by trained persons with the villagers. The
Village Water Vision should deal with the impacts of declining ground water tables,
increasing competing demands and vagaries caused by climate change.
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Aquifer Management
Pune, Buldhana and Aurangabad Districts, Maharashtra. The hydro-geological features of
Maharashtra (93 percent hard rock, variability in rainfall) impose limitations on ground
water availability. Competing demands on ground water, particularly for agricultural
purposes through indiscriminate pumping, have led to an unsustainable situation,
warranting innovative solutions through community partnership. The aquifer pilots
implemented in Pune, Buldhana and Aurangabad Districts through the Jalswarajya World
Bank-assisted project are a step forward in achieving sustainable aquifers through
community participation. The pilot experiment has proved that the community at aquifer
level can be brought together for participatory ground water management, and therefore it
has emerged as a rational tool in ensuring the sustainability of ground water to meet the
needs of the village community. The additional quantity of ground water retained in the
aquifer translates to an availability of about 1,690 kilolitre of water per household per year;
or it can irrigate an additional area of 3,900 hectare per year, in addition to providing round-
the-year drinking water security to the villagers. The pilot has also resulted in cost savings of
Rs. 88 lakh per year for the Government of Maharashtra by avoiding tanker supplies to
villages.
5.5 Water security planning and implementation at village, district and
State levels. Participation of local government and communities is the cornerstone for sustainable
development. States, districts and villages should adopt a mix of top-down and bottom
up planning approaches to service delivery based on Water Security Planning and
implementation with training institutions, NGOs and the local private sector providing
a supporting role. At the village level, GPs and VWSCs should be guided to make
informed choices regarding appropriate technologies so that they get the services they
want. The NRDWP prioritises coverage of remaining uncovered habitations, slipped
back habitations and water quality affected habitations. Water supply schemes should
have cost-effective and optimal design and timely implementation to reduce capital
and O&M costs. Planning and implementation of schemes should prioritise SC/ST, poor
and minority households/habitations and the role of women, make provisions for
schools, anganwadis and livestock, and adopt strategies to cope with natural disasters.
Cases of isolated rural houses where households have their own private safe and
adequate drinking water sources would be considered as covered.
Implementation Plan
5.6 Universal access and participation
1. From 2013, planning, investment and implementation of all new single-village piped
water supply schemes or in-village distribution systems of multi-village schemes
should be preceded by constitution of Village Water and Sanitation Committees,
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their training, and their preparing their Village Water Security Plan with approval by
the Gram Sabha/GP and implementation by the GP/VWSC.
2. All new drinking water supply schemes should be designed, estimated and
implemented to take account of the water supply cycle, with (i) recharge and water
conservation structures wherever necessary and feasible, for the sources, (ii)
constitution, training and support to VWSCs to plan, implement, operate, maintain
and manage the schemes (in-village), and (iii) waste water management through
stabilisation ponds and other options by convergence with MNREGS, TSC, etc.
3. Communities should be enabled to plan and implement schemes to have piped
water supply with metered household connections and volumetric tariffs with
appropriate cross subsidy for SC/ST and BPL households.
4. Where households within a habitation are self providing (for example, they have
installed their own shallow hand pump or open well), the GP/VWSC still has a
responsibility to ensure that they have an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
The GP/VWSC can (i) provide public taps/ handpumps, (ii) provide water quality
tests, and (iii) provide the services of a qualified mechanic for preventative
maintenance.
5. GPs/VWSCs should ensure a minimum level of safe drinking water and sanitation for
transient communities. For example, enterprises and contractors should be held
accountable for providing the minimum level of safe drinking water and sanitation
facilities for migrant labourers and in their labour colonies.
6. All government schools and anganwadis will be provided with water supply for
drinking and for toilets in adequate quantity by convergence of NRDWP for existing
schools and SSA for new schools set up under SSA. For private schools, supply of
water will be ensured by enforcement of the provisions of the Right to Education Act
by the Education Department.
7. All community toilets built with public funds and maintained for public use will be
provided with running water supply under NRDWP.
8. It will be ensured that the allocations for SC and ST concentrated habitations under
NRDWP are utilized for the planned purpose. Proportionate allocation and
expenditure will be made under NRDWP in minority concentrated districts.
9. Women should be included in all aspects of decision making with respect to drinking
water security planning, implementation, operation, maintenance and management.
10. Waste water treatment and recycling should be an integral part of every water
supply plan or project. Management of liquid and solid waste should be promoted
together with recycling and reuse of grey water for agriculture and groundwater
recharge and pollution control.
11. Design of schemes for peri-urban areas should factor in the requirements of
increasing population and increasing per capita demand in the planning stage itself
so as to avoid wasteful expenditure. SWSMs can make special provisions to ensure
peri-urban areas get the level of services demanded by the inhabitants.
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Case Study: Beneficiary Groups executing and maintaining schemes
Under the Jalanidhi Rural Water Supply Project in Kerala, instead of engaging contractors
to build the water supply systems, Beneficiary Groups (BGs) directly procure materials and
construct the schemes on their own, employing local workers – both skilled and unskilled.
The community contracting system adopted in the implementation of the Jalanidhi Rural
Water Supply Project in Kerala has successfully demonstrated the value of empowering
communities to be responsible for the implementation and management of the water
supply systems. Community contracting resulted in substantial reduction in the construction
costs (about 15 percent less than the approved estimates), ensuring good quality
construction and transparency. This approach also helped in mobilizing local resources,
especially manpower for construction, and making the beneficiaries actively involved in the
entire process whereby their ownership and sustainability of the schemes are enhanced.
Equally important, the water supply schemes completed and commissioned are now being
operated and maintained (many of these now for more than five years) by the BGs. Water
tariffs have been fixed appropriately, corresponding to O&M expenditures, and are being
levied and collected in all the schemes.
Village Drinking Water Security Plans and Implementation
Efficient and effective operation depends upon sound village water supply strategies made
up of (a) Water Source Sustainability Plan and implementation that provides sufficient
quantity of good quality drinking water to meet demand throughout the year, including
water harvesting and groundwater recharge measures for the drinking water sources, (b)
Water Safety Plan that describes how water quality will be managed from source to
mouth(point of consumption), (c) Operating and Maintenance Plan of the water supply
scheme which describes standard operating procedures and balances expenditure and
income, and (d) Service Improvement Plan summarizing provisions for new infrastructure,
replacement, expansion and optimization of production cost.
In addition, there should be promotion of awareness directed at water conservation and
household water storage and handling. (Issues such as hand washing, excreta disposal and
solid waste management being covered under other government programmes).
Source: Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, A Handbook for Gram Panchayats to
Help Them Plan, Implement, Operate, Maintain and Manage Drinking Water Security
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Chapter 6 – Sustainability of Sources and conjunctive use of water
6.1 Source Sustainability Plans
All rural habitations irrespective of the number of households should have access to a safe,
adequate and sustainable source or sources.7 Taking up recharge and water harvesting
structures in an unscientific manner may result in infructuous expenditure. Therefore
Sustainability Plans should be prepared and implemented prioritising for over-exploited,
critical and semi-critical blocks using Ground Water Prospects(HGM) maps, GIS mapping and
appropriate geophysical investigation with assistance from CGWB.. These should be
prepared on watershed/aquifer/hydrological unit basis and implemented by converging
resources of NRDWP(Sustainability) for material component and MNREGS for labour
component and other Watershed Development programmes.
6.2 Implementation Plan- Source sustainability
1. Sustainability Plans should be prepared especially for over-exploited, critical and
semi-critical blocks for taking up scientifically located recharge measures and water
harvesting structures on a watershed or aquifer basis. These would be prepared
using GroundWater Prospects (HGM) maps, GIS and GPS techniques to ensure
maximum water conservation to benefit drinking water sources in a cost effective
manner. These plans should be financed by convergence of NRDWP Sustainability
MNREGS as well as Watershed Development Programmes.
2. The GP/VWSC should plan, prepare and implement Source sustainability water
harvesting and groundwater recharge measures for all existing sources of drinking
water schemes, wherever feasible and required using Groundwater Prospects Maps.
3. All plans and estimates of new schemes for drinking water supply should include
provision of source sustainability measures, wherever feasible and required using
groundwater prospects maps and GIS tools.
4. Community management includes measuring water tables using simple or
automated rain gauges and rope measures and preparing a water budget to match
demand (especially for irrigation) and available water.8
5. Water harvesting and groundwater recharge structures should be planned on
watershed basis and adopted to augment available water. However, hydro-
geologists should assess overall impacts of reduced runoff including reduced inflows
to tanks.
6. The GP/VWSC should also rehabilitate and develop traditional village tanks, ponds
and wells.
7 This replaces the previous definition of coverage which was based on a safe source for permanently settled
habitations with populations of 20 households or 100 persons or more. 8 Examples include APFAMGS with measuring groundwater, and Dakshin Kannada District in Karnataka with
metered household connections and volumetric tariffs.
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Ensuring sustainability in water stressed areas
Alwar District, Rajasthan.
Solutions to ensure drinking water security in highly water stressed areas as in Rajasthan
exist. This has been amply demonstrated by the successful experience of local communities
in Alwar District in Rajasthan, supported by the NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) and its
founder Mr. Rajendra Singh. It is possible to harvest and augment water resources through
the construction of small water harvesting structures called “Johads” and the
implementation of local water governance. Since
1985, 8,600 Johads have been built in 1,086 villages. This has resulted in the rise in water
levels in the shallow aquifer, increase in the area under single and double crops, increase in
forest cover and drinking water supply security.
Protection of spring sources
Under the North-Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland
Areas, Spring Trap Chambers (STCs) have been promoted with the objective of protecting
natural sources of drinking water. Two STC designs have been developed by the project in
consultation with PHED staff : i) design for the plains; and ii) design for hill locations.
Protection of drinking water sources that serve a population of approximately 7,12,500 has
been enhanced as a result of the IFAD project. Existing rules relating to catchment
protection (such as timber felling, ban on hunting and fire control) have been enforced more
effectively. Multiple use of water from STCs has been emphasized (drinking water, clothes
washing, livestock rearing and kitchen gardens). The average annual household economic
benefits derived from the use of STCs are in range of Rs. 84,550,000 in Meghalaya alone. In
addition to economic benefits derived from livestock rearing, households also derive non-
economic benefits through enhanced food security provided by kitchen gardens (mustard
leaves, beans and cabbage).
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6.3 Conjunctive use of surface water, groundwater and rainwater
harvesting:
Conjunctive use of surface water, groundwater and rainwater sources offers the
best chance of ensuring adequate supply all year round at the least cost. Where
villages, such as those in semi arid areas, are not able to find local solutions the
State, District or Block will need to take responsibility. For example, States may
consider regional grids or multi village schemes to provide water to districts, blocks
and groups of villages. Unbundling bulk supply and retail distribution can ensure that
local governments and communities manage distribution, while PHEDs manage bulk
supplies.
Implementation Plan
6.4 Conjunctive use
1. All habitations should move from dependence on a single source to conjunctive use
of rainwater, groundwater and surface water sources.
Sustainability Plan
Sustainability of drinking water sources is probably the most important
factor determining whether a rural drinking water supply system will function
satisfactorily for an appreciable length of time. Interventions to ensure source
sustainability include Software inputs (raising awareness on need for recharge,
avoiding water wastage and the need to plan for balancing availability and
consumption) and Hardware inputs (Building physical structures which can capture
rainwater and surface water runoff, and/or help recharge ground water like ooranis,
check dams, subsurface dykes etc.).
The following steps are suggested for the preparation of a Sustainability Plan
with a view to appropriately locating sustainability structures to sustain drinking
water sources.
i. Prioritising Difficult Areas - Identification of overexploited, critical and
semi-critical blocks, areas with water stress in the whole or part of the year and
quality affected areas, identification and testing of all sources there.
ii. Identifying the respective micro watershed/aquifer/hydrological unit -
hydro geo morphological study of the area
iii. Preparation of a plan for recharge, water impounding(optimizing
evaporation losses) and roof top harvesting with peoples participation.
iv. Preparing Estimates, Building Capacities and Institutionalising the System
v. Financing the Plan by converging NRDWP-Sustainability, MNREGS and
Watershed Development Programmes.
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2. States or districts can consider regional grids or multi-village schemes based on
surface sources wherever feasible to supplement in-village sources, especially in
drought prone areas.
3. Services of qualified hydrogeologists should be made available to support the PHED,
DWSMs, BRCs and VWSCs in all districts.
4. GIS mapping of sources, water bodies and inter-village pipelines should be done to
help prepare district and regional drinking water security plans, identify uncovered
habitations, design schemes and reduce duplication in planning and investment.
5. Roof water harvesting and storage or recharge should be done on all village
Institutional and community buildings and promoted in private buildings. States
need to be incentivised to make recharge or storage of roofwater compulsory for
private buildings of appropriate size and design.
6. In extremely remote habitations in hilly areas, where sources are very distant and
laying of pipelines would entail a very high per capita cost, roof water harvesting can
be considered as a cost-effective alternative to provide drinking water to households
in such habitations.
Case Study : Conjunctive Use of water
Jepar of Chuda Taluka in Surendranagar District, Gujarat, is a village that embraced the
decentralized community managed water supply system in 2006. It has developed a water
distribution system, which allows all 160 households to have tap connections and enjoy
24x7 water supply. The village’s two sources of water – a well and Narmada pipe water
supply system – supplement each other to ensure regular safe water supply to the village.
The total storage capacity is an Elevated Storage Reservoir (ESR) of 50,000 litres and one
sump of 20,000 litres.
Before the village adopted 24x7 water supply system in 2006, the supply was available for
about two hours a day and the average consumption of water was around 400 litres per day
per household. When each household was assured of 24x7 supply, the consumption per
household reduced to 250 litres per household, thus saving 25,000 litres per day which
represents 38 percent of the water previously distributed. Power consumption reduced too
by 4.39 units per day or a decrease in one-third of the previous electricity bill; an annual
saving of about Rs. 7,900. The reduction in consumption of water occurred primarily
because people abandoned the practice of storing water to cover several days’ needs. Now,
125 villages in Gujarat are successfully operating the 24x7 water supply system.
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Chapter 7 - Drinking Water Quality Management:
The focus of this strategy is to ensure that the water supplied to rural citizens meets the
national water quality standards. In investments under NRDWP priority should be given for
coverage of quality affected habitations. The strategies to ensure drinking water quality will
broadly be protection, monitoring and surveillance and treatment. Improvement
programmes should be based on village water safety planning and implementation with
verification by water quality testing.
7.1 Legal, Institutional and Regulatory issues:
The DDWS, in coordination with state governments and appropriate national agencies,
will strive to make the national water quality standards mandatory in a phased manner.
This involves strengthening existing legislations and also issuing necessary guidelines to
the service providers. Water quality monitoring and enforcement will be part of the
regulatory mechanisms existing/ designed by various agencies- described in section 3.3.
Water Quality Cells need to be set up in each State manned by technically qualified staff
with expertise in testing and treatment of major chemical and biological contaminants
found in the State.
7.2 Drinking Water Quality Standards and Assessment:
The IS 10500 drinking water quality standards are voluntary in nature. So far there is no
notification to make drinking water quality parameters and standards legally enforceable
both for urban and rural areas are still to be declared. The Water Quality Assessment
Authority constituted under the EPA 1986 has been mandated to declare the quality
parameters for drinking water as also for all water. The Authority should initiate action
to declare the minimum quality requirements for drinking water in a phased manner
after consultation with the concerned Dept of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the
Ministry of Urban Development. Requirement of a separate Drinking Water Quality
Assessment Authority for better focus on drinking water quality would be considered.
7.3 Drinking Water Safety Planning and Implementation:
7.3.1 Source Protection.
Existing drinking water sources and freshwater resources in general should be protected
by implementation of the Total Sanitation Campaign to make villages open-defecation
free and maintain a clean environment; by safely disposing of solid and liquid wastes; by
ensuring the control and treatment of industrial effluents; and by raising awareness
about impacts of use of high concentration of fertilisers and pesticides on water. The
regulatory authority of the CPCB, SPCBs and the Water Quality Assessment Authority will
be applied to protect the quality of drinking water sources polluted by industrial
effluents and untreated sewage.
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Implementation Plan
Modern methods of water quality management are required based on ensuring water
safety and verification through water quality testing.
7.4 Ensuring Water Safety
1. States should adopt the drinking water safety planning and implementation
approach for rural supplies to prevent contamination. In order to address water
quality problems, the VWSC must prepare and implement a Water Safety Plan.
2. Where possible, SLSSC and DWSMs should move away from high cost treatment
technologies for tackling arsenic and fluoride contamination to rainwater harvesting
and development of alternative sources for arsenic and alternative sources/dilution
of aquifers through rainwater harvesting for fluoride.
3. For chemically contaminated sources, the first step should be testing, marking,
including colour coding, and switching of sources, before exploring other options on
the mitigation ladder with higher costs and benefits.
4. Dual water supply may be adopted, as a short term measure, if treating all supplied
water or providing minimum quantity of safe water is not feasible in rural
habitations facing acute water quality problems. In these habitations 10 lpcd of safe
water may be provided which would be sufficient for drinking and cooking purposes
and the remaining 60 lpcd may be provided from untreated/unsafe sources for other
domestic activities.
5. As an interim step before provision of safe tap water, point of use treatment such as
boiling and filtration of water will be promoted through intensive awareness
generation campaigns.
6. Setting up of Reverse Osmosis or any other water treatment plants which results in
wastage of water or other adverse environmental impacts should be avoided except
where there is no other option available.
7. The Jalmani Scheme for implementation of standalone drinking water purification
systems in rural schools should be promoted in areas with iron, turbidity and
bacteriological contamination.
Why is Water Safety Planning and implementation needed?
There are many advantages: i) Better management of water quality by preventing
contamination before it happens, ii) It is a 'learning by doing' mechanism to achieve
improved operational management, iii) It provides an approach to prioritising improvement
programmes (physical and operational) based on health outcomes which emphasise
customer services, and iv) It provides a concrete means of linking sanitation and hygiene to
water supply.
In implementation there are other advantages. By identifying the functions required to
support water safety it is possible to articulate activity mapping (roles and responsibilities),
and improve needs based training programmes.
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7.5 Monitoring and surveillance.
Modern methods of water quality monitoring and surveillance should be provided in all
districts and sub-district level laboratories and adopted for all drinking water sources
and systems (water safety to prevent contamination with verification by water quality
testing) along with standard operation and maintenance procedures. VWSCs will be
trained in preparation and implementation of water safety plans, and protocols
introduced for water quality testing based on Field Test Kits and District and Sub-
divisional water quality testing laboratories.
Implementation Plan
7.6 Water quality testing
1. The VWSC and DWSM must ensure that regular sampling and analysis takes place
using field test kits and district and sub-district testing laboratories. The national
protocols for water quality testing should be followed.
2. The five grass roots level workers trained for testing water quality through the use of
field test kits should act as ambassadors for achieving household level drinking water
security. They may be paid suitable charges for the number of samples collected and
sent for lab testing and disseminating test results to the VWSC and the community.
3. The VWSC's responsibilities, with support from the DWSM, include maintenance of
the field test kits (replacement of used materials) and meeting the sampling
expenses.
4. The VWSC should liaise with PHCs and NRHM workers (ASHA) to monitor incidence
of diseases relating to water quality and the results must be shared with the
community (Gram Sabha).
5. All districts should have well equipped labs with qualified technicians. Sub-district
labs may be set up by the PHED or outsourced to NGOs, educational institutions, etc.
The district and sub-district water testing laboratories should have facilities to test
for all notified quality parameters.
6. All water quality testing labs at State and district levels, should obtain accreditation
from the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories.
7. Modalities for convergence of Food Safety, Health, Pollution Control, Groundwater
Labs and water quality testing labs should be worked out and implemented.
7.7 National Laboratories:
National laboratories for water quality testing will be identified in NEERI, its regional
offices and in other National scientific and research institutions to support and build
capacities of the State and district labs.
7.8 Treatment, Distribution and Household hygiene.
Highest priority should be given to provision of safe water in arsenic and fluoride
affected habitations. Cost effective solutions are needed. Dilution of chemically
contaminated sources in case of fluoride and salinity is a cost effective option that
should be promoted. Roofwater harvesting, development of traditional village
tanks/ponds/wells to make them safe can provide safe water for cooking and drinking.
Alternate safe sources are generally preferred in case of arsenic affected areas.
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Chemical treatment of water may be taken up in cases of bacteriological and chemical
contamination where the other options are not available. In addition to chemical
contamination, there should be focus on measuring, reporting and tackling
bacteriological contamination in sources, storage, transmission, delivery points and
within households during storage and use. Distribution systems should be protected
from contamination with untreated sewage in leaking pipes, by regular checks.
Contamination in storage and handling at household level should be tackled through
awareness campaigns under NRDWP and TSC on simple remedial actions such as boiling,
filtering etc
Case Studies: Water Quality Management
Tackling Arsenic contamination
In West Bengal, arsenic contamination of ground water was first detected during the early
1980s in different districts adjoining Bhagirathi/Hooghly rivers. Investigation showed that
arsenic beyond permissible limit of 0.05 mg/l existed in the ground water. The arsenic
problem was found to be geogenic, i.e., due to the presence of excessive arsenic in the
geological formation. Ground water was the main and staple source of drinking water in
such areas due to its easy, inexpensive and location specific abstraction. Therefore, the
drinking water supply systems in the affected areas received a serious setback owing to
arsenic contamination of ground water.
Ground water in 79 Blocks (out of 341 blocks in the state) in the Districts of Malda,
Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and
Bardhaman is at risk of arsenic contamination. In order to tackle the arsenic menace in West
Bengal, three types of mitigation measures have been taken up so far:
• Short-term Measures: Hand pump fitted tube wells at deeper aquifers; Ring wells
• Medium-term Measures: Arsenic treatment unit with existing hand pump fitted tube
wells; Arsenic removal plants for existing ground water based piped water supply
schemes; Large diameter deeper aquifer tube wells for existing/new piped water supply
schemes; New ground water based piped water supply schemes
• Long -term Measures: Surface water based water supply schemes
Tackling Fluoride contamination
Andhra Pradesh is among the worst fluoride affected states in the country, with an
estimated
1,881 habitations reporting fluoride incidence in addition to other types of contaminations
(physical and bacteriological). The incidence and intensity of water pollution is higher
among poor households. Provision of safe drinking water in a sustainable manner,
therefore, is crucial for improved quality of life in the rural areas, in general, and that of
poor households, in particular. During the mid 2000, some NGOs such as Byrraju
Foundation, Water Health International, Naandi Foundation, Center for Water and
Sanitation (CWS), Smaat Aqua, etc., established water treatment plants in different parts of
the state. These NGOs worked in collaboration with technology providers like Water Health
International and TATA Projects for developing technologies at one end and with the
communities and PRIs for establishing and the running the plants on the other end. Some of
the technologies adopted in the state are:
• Roof water harvesting methods promoted by both Government of Andhra Pradesh and
some NGOs
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• Household deflouridation methods promoted by some NGOs as well as Government of
Andhra Pradesh
• Private enterprisers selling water in rural areas particularly in coastal districts and
Nalgonda
• Water treatment plants with ultra violet (UV) and reverse osmosis (RO) technology with
• public private participation
• Micro filter technologies promoted by some of the organizations to the government and
other agencies
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Chapter 8 - Sustainable Service Delivery (Operation and Maintenance)
8.1 Operation and Maintenance Policy:
States should draw up O&M policy for rural drinking water supply focusing on ensuring
sustainable service delivery at the village level and laying out the roles of VWSCs, GPs,
PHEDs, operators, outsourcing agencies. The policy should also lay down standard
operating procedures for O&M of handpumps and piped water supplies. It should build
capacities of GPs and water operators and incentivise GPs/VWSCs to maintain accounts
of their income and expenditure on O&M, improve collection of water charges and
generate surplus for replacements. States should consider imposing conditions of
continued maintenance of a scheme for 3/5 years and building local capacity for taking
over the scheme, on the contractor who is entrusted with execution of the scheme.
8.2 Implementation Plan - Operation and Maintenance
1. States should introduce standard operating procedures for O&M of handpumps and
piped water supplies and GPs/VWSCs should identify and assign key functions to the
appropriate person such as the handpump caretaker or operator.
2. Timely transfer of O&M, State plan and Finance Commission funds is necessary to
enable GPs to operate and maintain schemes without service breaks. Wherever it is
not yet adopted NRDWP(O&M) and other funds necessary for drinking water supply
to GPs should be transferred electronically to GP accounts.
3. For handpumps, the GP or VWSC needs to be provided access to spare parts and
trained mechanics by the DWSMs for regular preventative maintenance of all
handpumps in the GP.
4. For piped water supply systems with community standposts and/or household
connections, the DWSM/BRC and VWSC needs to make sure that community based
operators receive training to gain the technical and financial skills to do the job.
5. Block or District Panchayats and Joint Scheme Level Committees consisting of heads
of VWSCs/GPs benefited by the scheme are responsible for overseeing multi-village
schemes.
7. In multi-village schemes or large water grids, bulk supply should be
managed/operated by PHEDs or private operators with tariffs set by the State
government/PRIs/water resources regulator.
8. Customer consultation and grievance redressal mechanisms should be established
such as provision of a toll free number, call centres, mobile SMSs, linking GPs and
engineers electronically with Block and District IMIS systems, citizen report cards and
community score cards.
9. Initially all bulk water supply and retail water supply to commercial, industrial
establishments and private institutions should be installed with volumetric metering.
Gradually all household connections should be metered.
10. Water audits, energy audits and measurement of Unaccounted for Water (UfW) and
Non Revenue Water (NRW) should be introduced for bulk and distribution piped
water supplies.
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11. In time, optimisation of large water supply systems through technologies like SCADA
should be promoted in all States.
12. Automated pumps should be installed, wherever feasible, in piped water supply
schemes to ensure reliable water supply and reduce operator workload.
13. Standard operating procedures for coping with natural disasters, including for
drought and floods, will be laid down and disseminated through training and
awareness generation programmes.
14. GPs/VWSCs must also prepare and implement service improvement plans for
prioritising repairs, replacement and expansion of source and system parts.
15. Zilla Panchayats should have a Water Supply O & M Wing to provide continuous
technical support to GPs in managing their water supply schemes.
16. Federation of VWSCs can also take up major maintenance, renovation and
modernization of rural water supply schemes with technical and staff support from
PHEDs/Corporations/Boards. They can reduce costs by engaging local technicians
trained in vocational institutes or industrial training institutes(ITIs) to provide
services round the year. This would significantly mitigate deficiencies of technical
capacity and manpower availability at block and lower levels.
17. Water Metering and Unaccounted for Water: Water metering, both bulk and
individual household, will be promoted in all piped water supply schemes to reduce
unaccounted for water.
18. Use of improved technology: Use of improved technology to increase the efficiency
of motor pumps by using star ratings of motor pumps should be strictly enforced in
all Government supported programmes of Agriculture, Rural development and
Water Resources Ministries. Use of techniques like bulk water metering, SCADA and
telemetry should be promoted.
Case Study: Impact of adopting metering
Dakshina Kannada, a coastal district in Karnataka bordering Kerala, is situated on the
western coast of India, which spreads from the Western Ghats to the Arabian Sea. The
major part of its length lies along the seaboard. The population is about 1.3 million people
(2001 census). The district is characterized by scattered habitation, isolated households,
hilly terrain and saline water in the coastal belt in the summer months. The district is made
of five blocks and 203 Gram Panchayats (GPs) including 368 villages and 2,683 habitations.
In 2010, 128 of 203 GPs adopted meters for household connections coupled with
volumetric-based tariff and computerized billing and collection in Dakshina Kannada District.
This is unique in rural India. In 2010, there were about 43,000 metered connections against
less than 4,500 prior to adoption of this practice. This has led to reduction of water losses,
improvement of service delivery hours with GPs able to provide 24x7 water in some cases,
improved collection of charges and financial sustainability of schemes.
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8.3 Coping with Climate Change
Various adaptation measures need to be considered to address the risks of climate change.
The Box below identifies the kinds of adaptation measures that can be considered.
Adaptation measures and opportunities for rural water supplies
• Redesigning the engineering codes for pipelines, water treatment, water supply systems,
local dams, and irrigations systems.
• Increasing use of rain fed systems to enhance the sustainability of local water supplies.
• Introducing measures to enhance groundwater recharge following all rainfall events.
• Addressing waste water treatment and recycling waste water.
• Providing improved flood forecasting measures based on measure precipitation gauges
or weather radar systems, linked to catchment models.
• Helping refine policy at national, state, and local levels to incorporate the above four
tasks.
• Supporting educational systems to inform local people and also encourage research to
support the above five tasks as well as development of a regional climate model which
can be linked to local water use patterns to better estimate impacts of climate change.
Source: Water and Sanitation Program – South Asia, Climate Risk Screening
8.4 Service Agreements
GPs/VWSCs should explore options to access professional experience and skills for
operation and maintenance, including qualified mechanics for handpump preventative
maintenance and operators for piped water supplies. (See Section 5.3 on Outsourcing).
Service Agreements
Whether the water supply system is being operated by community based technical and
operational staff, a public utility / department, or a local private entrepreneur, a service
agreement is a very useful tool. Service agreements set out the operators’ tasks and what
they will be paid, and as such can be used to provide guidance and incentives to gather
information, plan and implement as effectively and efficiently as possible. If local
entrepreneurs are involved then other advantages include management expertise, tariff /
financial discipline and access to private capital. In addition, performance indicators provide
the basis for monitoring implementation and performance, including demand side
outcomes.
Source: Ministry of Rural Development, Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas
8.5 Incentive Fund
The Incentive fund of 10% of NRDWP allocation at the National level will be used to
incentivise specific steps taken by States to devolve functions, funds and functionaries and
improve finances of GPs in managing their water supply systems. For this purpose a
Management Devolution Index will be prepared and given weightage in allocation of the
Incentive fund.
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Management Devolution Index
In the inter-State allocation criteria for allocating National Rural Drinking Water
Program (NRDWP)funds the Govt. of India has given a weightage of 10% for “Rural
population managing rural drinking water supply schemes” to encourage State
governments to devolve management of rural water supply schemes to PRIs.
At present, some states have transferred the full range of functions to GPs, others
have transferred only a few functions. Moreover some States have transferred only
handpumps management to GPs, whereas some have transferred single village piped
water supply schemes(pwss) and some have even transferred multi-village pwss.
Fund flows to the Panchayats remains a problem in many States. Functionaries
support to the Panchayats is also a weak area. The net result is that due to lack of
substantive devolution the Panchayats are handicapped in managing the schemes
leading to poor O&M of the schemes, non-functionality and poor service delivery.
In order to incentivize States to devolve greater functions, funds and functionaries in
respect of rural water supply schemes it is proposed to define a Management
Devolution Index based on selected indicators that measure the depth of
management devolution for use in allocation of incentive grants. Some of the major
indicators proposed for measuring the Management Devolution Index are:
• Whether the state Acts and/ or executive orders clearly define the transfer of
responsibility for infrastructure creation and/or for operation and
maintenance to PRIs for hand pumps, single village and/or multi-village piped
water schemes
• Whether the VWSC is a Standing/Sub-Committees of GPs under the State
Act/Rules
• Proportion of NRDWP (Coverage, Quality and/or O&M) funds (Central + State
share), transferred to PRI/DWSM subordinate to ZP accounts
• Whether unit charges of electricity for pumping in pwss by PRIs are equal to
or lesser than the lowest slab of unit charge for domestic consumers
• Percentage of water charges demand collected by PRIs
• Proportion of filled up positions of RWS engineers at block and sub-block level
• Proportion of VWSC members trained in RWS functions for atleast two days
• Proportion of filled up positions of DWSM Consultants and BRC Coordinators
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Chapter 9 - Decentralised Governance
The RWS sector should promote the overall programme for decentralization set forth in
the Constitution and the NRDWP Guidelines and strengthen the implementation
approaches adopted by the government.9 Diversity of conditions in the States will be
recognized. The major issues related to strengthening sector decentralized governance
are: clear policies, appropriate institutional arrangements, financing mechanisms and
appropriate oversight mechanisms, including regulation.
9.1 Policy environment:
Drinking water is a state subject and most policies have to be defined by the states in
line with the Constitution and sector policies. Policies set out the broad objectives for
the sector to ensure drinking water security. The key issues include institutional roles
and responsibilities (activity mapping), service standards, cost recovery/subsidies and
access for SC/ST and poor habitations and households. As of 2010, very few states have
a comprehensive Water policy and O&M policy. All states will be encouraged to develop
appropriate policies by 2012.
9.2 Incentive Fund
The Department will incentivize States to devolve functions, funds and functionaries to
gram, block and district panchayats to plan, implement and manage their drinking water
schemes with NRDWP Incentive funds using a Management Devolution Index.
9.3 Appropriate Institutional Arrangements:
This again varies from state to state based on the prevailing institutional arrangements
and strengths. As of date in most States the Public Health Engineering Departments are
providing the leadership to the sector management, perform functions related to policy,
investment planning, execution, measuring outcomes and in some cases O&M of
schemes. This may result in conflict of interest. In some States
Corporations/Boards/Authorities have been set up to address this issue and to bring in
greater accountability.
9.4 Reforms in Institutional set up of Public Health Engineering Departments
States could consider restructuring Departments into Boards/Authorities or
Corporations in order to bring in greater transparency, accountability and improved
management practices at the State level. This would also enable them to raise finances
from different sources. However, after the 73rd
amendment to the Constitution there
has been a growing trend to devolve the drinking water responsibilities to PRI
institutions. This devolution is at various stages in different States. The experience from
9 For example, the Planning Commission ‘Manual for Integrated District Planning’ (2008), and the Ministry of
Panchayati Raj guidelines for, ‘Planning at the Grassroots Level, An Action Programme for the Eleventh Five
Year Plan’ (2006).
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some of the States has led to an understanding of the issues involved in unbundling the
sector, in order to arrive at appropriate institutional arrangements.
Implementation Plan
9.5 Institutional roles and responsibilities
Institutional roles and responsibilities laid down in the NRDWP Guidelines should be
followed:
1. Gram Sabha: The community talks about what it wants in the Gram Sabha and
approves decisions about water services based on techno-economic criteria.
2. The GP is responsible for ensuring that every person has access to an adequate
supply of safe water.
3. Water Operators: Contracts set out caretakers/operators tasks and what they will be
paid.
4. The VWSC should be a standing committee of the GP as per the Panchayat Raj
Act/Rules and responsible for planning, implementation, operation, maintenance
and management of the water supply system.
5. GPs/VWSCs implement plans to agreed budgets and timeframes, and provide annual
reports on progress and performance to the Gram Sabha and the Block Panchayat.
6. The Block Resource Centre provides motivation, training, support etc. to the
GP/VWSC.
7. District support: ZPs and DWSMs help organize financing, training and technical
support, review plans and monitor implementation and performance.
8. In Union Territories and smaller States the full complement of BRCs and DWSMs and
their staffing would not be required nor could it be funded from the Support funds.
The UTs and smaller States can appropriately plan the staffing, remuneration and
setting up of BRCs and DWSMs depending on the availability of funds and
requirements.
9. All States should have a dedicated line Department/ Board/ Corporation for rural
water supply with dedicated Rural Water Supply engineers and other staff at district,
block and section levels located within the PRIs or to support them.
10. State support: SWSMs provide policy guidance; SLSSCs approve schemes and
Support activities to be taken up and review implementation progress and
operational performance; WSSOs deal with software aspects of RWS; State Technical
Agencies (STAs) support PHEDs through technical expertise.
11. The SWSM and DWSM are responsible for getting the GPs and VWSCs to participate
in planning for improved drinking water security.
12. Awareness creation and IEC: Awareness of all stakeholders on various aspects of
ensuring drinking water security is very vital to achieving the overall sector objective.
This involves not just communication of messages but also adequate behavior
change. States should design and implement appropriate behavior change
communications and monitor the progress on the change achieved periodically.
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13. Linkages with R&D institutions, national and State level scientific institutions and
educational institutions at all levels will be strengthened through R&D projects, tie-
ups for water quality monitoring, training, technical support, monitoring, evaluation,
impact assessment studies etc.
14. Role of NGOs and CSOs will continue in community mobilization, information
dissemination, institution building, planning and technical support and monitoring.
In addition they may also be involved in planning, designing and piloting of model
innovative schemes by the States.
15. Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation , Ministry of Rural Development
would be in charge of policy making at the national level, revising policy and
guidelines from time to time, financial and technical support to the States,
facilitating States to avail external assistance, macro-monitoring of sector
performance, programme monitoring, advising and coordinating with other
Ministries/Departments and their subordinate offices, institutions, autonomous
bodies on matters relating to drinking water supply in rural areas and for
coordination with urban water supply where required and other functions as laid
down in the rules and by the competent authorities.
Case Study: Role of NGO in Decentralised Water Supply on 24x7 basis with Equity
Gram Vikas, Orissa.
Unique to Gram Vikas is the adoption of the social inclusion approach wherein all
families of a habitation, irrespective of their economic, social and caste
considerations, are provided the same infrastructure and service. Under the Gram
Vikas scheme, every family gets access to good quality toilets and bathrooms,
coupled with three taps per household and 24x7 piped water supply. Gram Vikas’
scheme integrates the concepts of demand-led supply through decision making
processes and cost sharing. In addition, this scheme differs from other approaches
by breaking with the formula that equates poor people with low quality services and
products. The quality, convenience and privacy of the design have really changed the
daily lives of these poor rural communities and led to widespread behaviour change,
inducing communities with no history of fixed point defecation to adopt new habits.
Gram Vikas’ Movement and Action Network for the Transformation of Rural Areas
(MANTRA), as on March 31, 2010, has served about 2,50,000 people in 787 villages
in 22 districts of Orissa.
9.6 Unbundling bulk water production, bulk water supply and village distribution:
The Strategic Plan emphasises conjunctive use of water and rejuvenation of traditional
sources of water. In water stressed areas where water has to be transported from long
distances service provision can be unbundled in terms of bulk water production, bulk water
distribution, and retail water distribution including management of local water sources.
Unbundling and corporatization of sector functions of production, bulk transfer and distribution
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have been done in some States. Other States should study and appropriately develop their own
institutions.
It should be recognized that the three functions need different levels of capability in
management and operations and can be assigned to the appropriate institution or level of
government.
Based on the emerging experiences in the country and elsewhere the following options can
be considered.
•
1. Bulk water production. Priority must be given to local sources. However where local
sources may not be sufficient, bulk water may need to be transported. Highly
specialized agencies are required for design and maintenance of bulk water
production. This involves skills related to engineering, construction management,
hydro-geology, financing, etc. There would be a need to serve different stakeholders
such as drinking water, irrigation and industry, and deal with different ministries /
departments.
2. Bulk water distribution. Many states have taken up multi-village schemes with
piped bulk water supply to a group of villages and in some cases towns or local
industries. The end customers are the GPs and/ or ULBs who are responsible for
distribution. However GPs would require technical support on a continuous basis for
taking up major repairs, replacement, modernization, renovation etc. A model of
VWSCs or GPs setting up a federation or a O&M society run by representatives of
VWSCs, GPs, PHED etc. at block or district level would enable such a body to provide
reliable, continuous and sustainable O&M services and capacity building of societies
at lower cost.
3. In-village water management. This is the responsibility of GPs/VWSCs with
appropriate institutional and technical support.
Such an approach will provide needed clarity on roles and responsibilities for various
institutions within the state. The NRDWP guidelines articulated well the roles and
responsibilities of various actors which are summarized in the chart below.
Bulk water production
and management of
large scale water grids
Creation of necessary
infrastructure and its
O&M
Retail water distribution
and management of local
water sources
Creation of necessary
infrastructure and its
O&M
Bulk water distribution in
multi-village schemes
Creation of necessary
infrastructure and its
O&M
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Institutional Structure in States suggested under NRDWP
State support:
SWSM/Boards/Corporations/Authorities
provide policy guidance, and water security
planning at State level; SLSSCs approve
schemes and support activities to be taken up
and review implementation progress and
operational performance; WSSOs deal with
software aspects of RWS; STAs support PHEDs
through technical expertise
SWSM/Board
/Corp/Authori
ty
SDMA in
natural disasters
SLSSC, PHED, WSSO,
CCDU, STA
Zilla Parishad, PHED
DDMA in
natural disasters
District support: ZPs/DWSMs undertake
water security planning and implementation
at district level; help organize financing,
training and technical support, and review
plans and monitor implementation and
performance
DWSM
The Block Resource Centre
provides motivation, training,
support etc. to the VWSC/GP
and the Block PHED staff and
Block Panchayat members
PHED, Block
Resource
The VWSC is a standing committee of the GP
and is responsible for planning,
implementation, operation, maintenance
and management of in-village
schemes/distribution network and providing
annual reports on progress and performance
Gram Sabha: The
community talks about
what it wants in the Gram
Sabha, approves decisions
about water supply,
monitors the
implementation and
management of in-village
drinking water systems,
and conducts social audit.
Gram Panchayat
VWSC
Service Contract: Contracts set
out handpump mechanics’ and
operators’ tasks and what they
will be paid
Operator Gram Sabha
Citizens /
Households
Handpump
Mechanics Citizens / Households pay charges as
decided by the Gram Sabha for
drinking water services with subsidies
for SC, ST and BPL households
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Chapter 10- Convergence of different development programmes.
10.1 District or Block Water Security Planning
Water security planning is required to optimise the use of water resources within the
constraints of financial and human resources to meet the basic needs, manage convergence
of different development programmes, and take decisions about broader water resources
management and investments. Convergence takes place at all levels but it is the DWSMs
responsibility to coordinate matters relating to water and sanitation among district
representatives of Health, Education, Forests, Watershed Development, Agriculture, Rural
Development, Urban Development, Women and Child Development etc., and National
programmes/grants such as SSA, NRHM, ICDS, IWMP, BRGF, MNREGS, AIBP, JNNURM, 13th
FC etc. They should follow the Guidelines for Effective functioning of SWSMs and DWSMs
issued by DDWS.
Implementation Plan
10.2 Convergence of different development programmes
1. Regular meetings of the National Drinking Water and Sanitation Council should be
held for better coordination and convergence at the national level.
2. SWSMs are responsible for convergence of policy and programmes for water supply
and sanitation with other related Departments and programmes at the State level.
3. DWSMs are responsible for coordination of activities relating to water and sanitation
among district officers of Health, Education, Forests, Agriculture, Rural Development,
etc., and National programmes/grants such as TSC, SSA, NRHM, ICDS, BRGF,
MNREGS, FC .
4. The SWSMs and DWSMs should meet regularly. The issues for discussion listed in the
SWSM and DWSM Guidelines for effective functioning of SWSMs and DWSMs
indicate many activities and areas of convergent action. These should be discussed,
followed and built upon.
5. Convergence with Health and Women and Child Development Departments to
spread the message of safe water use, safe sanitation and hygiene has to be ensured
by SWSMs and DWSMs.
6. A concurrent monitoring system for water borne diseases and health should be set
up for clinical assessment for arsenical dermatitis and fluorosis and regular
monitoring done for other water borne diseases especially diarrhea through the
community health monitoring approach.
7. Capacity building should be provided to Medical Officers on detection of arsenic and
fluoride poisoning cases and other water borne diseases and their management in
